Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Ever get those days when you're too lazy to roll out of bed? And so you just stay in there for the next hour either reading a book or contemplating the meaning of life and your purpose in it? And then suddenly you get that sweet tooth calling out to you, pleading that you satisfy it with a nectarous breakfast? Yeah, I get those mornings more often than I'd like to admit. Sometimes I feel a tad more creative and flip through my cook books to find something different, but easy, to make.

This is where the churros come in...

The first time I ever tried churros was when I had my first Taste of Dubai experience. I fell in love with what I'd like to call a Spanish doughnut; they had a crispy shell and were so light and airy inside. Little did I know, they are really simple to make! Apart from the chocolate dipping sauce that comes along with this recipe, the churros themselves have 7 ingredients that you need. And the best part is that all these ingredients can be found in any kitchen where lots of cooking is being done. Yay for convenience! And another yay for laziness!

The sound of the light crackling & popping of the oil when deep frying the churros is like music to my ears. (I promise I don't deep fry as much as the previous statement makes me sound like I do..) It reminds me so much of my childhood: when my mom used to make chicken nuggets and french fries for me and my brother on a lazy day in. Deep-frying seems to be synonymous with being a couch potato, huh? Ah well, everyone deserves a break from time to time. But yes, the churros. Once they touch the hot oil, they almost immediately poof up into little pillows and float on the surface. Just be careful not to burn yourself with oil popping everywhere and you're set.

The perfect lazy sweet snack for the ultimate lazy day in.

P.S. Am I a glutton for thinking these would be absolutely delicious with dulce de leche? WOW! Need to make some more to try that out.

Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce adapted from Nigella Lawson's Kitchen

For the churros:

50g caster sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

125g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1x15ml tablespoon olive oil

250ml freshly boiled water

approx. 500ml corn or vegetable oil, for deep frying

- Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a wide, shallow dish: this is for shaking the cooked churros in to coat them later.

- Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl then beat in the olive oil and the boiled water.

- Keep mixing until you have a warm, sticky dough.

- Leave it to rest for about 10 minutes.

- Heat up the oil in a small saucepan, the oil should come up about a third of the way up the sides of the pan. It should be about 170°C. 

- Load up a piping bag with a large star-shaped tip and fill it with the churros dough.

- Squeeze short lengths (4-5cm) of dough into the hot oil, snipping them off with a pair of scissors as you go.

- Cook about 4-5 at a time and, once they turn a rich golden brown, fish them out of the oil with a slotted spoon or spatula or with tongs onto a baking sheet lined with some kitchen roll.

- To keep the cooked churros warm while you fry the remaining dough, transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet and hold in a low heat oven.

- Once you're done cooking all the churros, allow them to rest for a few minutes.

- While they're still warm, toss them in the sugar and cinnamon mixture and shake them about till they all get a good covering.

For the chocolate dipping sauce:

100g good-quality dark chocolate

25g chocolate milk

1x15ml tablespoon golden syrup

150ml double cream

- Melt all the ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat.Once the chocolate starts to melt, stir everything together and take it off the heat.
- Leave it in a warm place.
- Serve in individual pots/bowls.

- Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

BBQ Cake

So, guess what? I'm graduating... TOMORROW! *breaks into a dance* I can't find the words to describe my excitement. Albeit I will still be doing my last couple electives so I'll officially be a graduate by mid July (إنشاء الله) But still, VERY EXCITED! :D Bought myself a new dress and a pair of shoes to wear on the occasion. I think I earned it after 4 years full of hard work, craziness, emotional roller coasters, life lessons, friendships, tough decisions, growing mentally (and physically ;) ), and wonderful memories. Here's to many more years full of character!

On to the cake! As you may have read in my previous post about Majed helping me out so much in my cake-making adventures, I decided I had to return the favor to him in some way. And what better way than to do it through cake? Majed's known as the BBQ Man in our circle. It was inevitable to make him a BBQ cake; it just simply had to be done. (I was actually planning to make this since late January and it was all hush hush since then).

All toppers are made with molded/shaped cake & covered with fondant

It was a three-day affair, with the first day dedicated to baking the cakes and getting all the fillings and butter cream frosting ready. The second day I packed all my tools, cakes, frostings and the odd rolling pin over to Hana's place to get decorating. Hana was enjoying hand-crafting the cake toppers while I got down to icing the base of the cake and trying to smooth it out as much as my spatula allowed me to. After 7 hours of hard labor (read: serious cake decorating), we were pleased with our result. Now it was all down to getting it to Majed's place the next day to surprise him with it.

Majed's hearty steak

The surprise was successful! Majed had no clue. He was wildly confused; it was amusing to watch him walk around his living room and greet all of us with a big question mark on his face. Quote of the day from Majed: Holy sh*t! This is the best cake EVER! *Yasmin and Hana put success faces on and tip their hats* Our work here is done.

"burning coal" made from tinted marshmallows

Enjoying his [sweet] steak

This cake goes right to the top of my list. Not trying to blow my own horn but I am very proud of this cake because it brought so much joy to everyone who saw it and ate it!

Filling: center + top is chocolate ganache & the rest is chocolate butter cream with crushed Maltesers

Death by cake, it happens.

Once again, Happy Birthday Majed. Hope you enjoyed it x

Happy Baking!

Star Wars Cupcakes

What does one do when they get a 3-days notice order for 150 cupcakes with 6 individual designs to be made on an agreed upon number of them? Well.. If you're as crazy as I am, you accept that order, of course! Never mind that I had another order due on the same day as well. Never mind that the day I was to deliver my order was my friend's bridal shower. Never mind that I also had a lot of course work to tend to. Every day, I come closer to the conclusion that I'm insane. But, I also know that I love a challenge and I really didn't want to say no to this one.

Mr. Nerdy Face (a.k.a Fahed) of Nerdyface held an event last Friday; NerdyCon: Star Wars Day Celebration. I was asked to make Star Wars cupcakes for the event. Fahed had sent over cupcakes ideas that he liked. So, I got to doing a bit of my research on what could possibly be done in the short span of time I had. We agreed on 6 designs and both seemed happy with it. That was before I realized I had to hand carve around 80 designs individually and make them all look somehow identical. But anywaayyyy :P 


On the day of baking, my lovely assistant and ball of positive energy Majed came over to help me out in the evening. We had started cutting, carving, icing, shaping, laughing, crying, singing, plotting against anyone who would say something bad about the cupcakes hoping everyone would love the cupcakes, all up till 7:00am. Yes, you read correct. We were in the kitchen till just a bit after sunrise. I'm not sure how we did it (the force must have been with us). And I'm not sure what I would have done without Majed's help. But I am SO glad we got it done and that it's over. Majed, if you're reading this, I am ever so grateful for everything you've helped me with!

Galactic Empire

Cutest little munchkin! - Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Mandelorian (boba fett)

General Grievous & Rebel Alliance

On the day of the event, after getting just 3 hours of sleep, I headed down with my stepdad to deliver the goods. I can't tell you how amazing it felt when Fahed quietly said, "Wicked" Yup, my job there was done :D I hope whomever tried the cupcakes enjoyed them! And I hope I didn't disappoint any Star Wars mega fans.

Princess Leia

Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Shou Droids? - Photo taken by Fahed Sabbagh, Mr. Nerdy Face

Happy Baking and May The Force Be With You!

Pink & Purple Cakes

It's Spring Break and man, am I relaxed! I have tons of university work to tend to but being the procrastinator that I am, I can't help but sleep in those extra few hours and go out spontaneously with friends. I'm going to miss being a student..

The other day I received an order for a lovely lady's daughter's birthday party. She wanted two cakes to match her pink and purple theme. She didn't ask for anything else in specific and told me to just be creative about it and keep it girly. I gotta say, it's quite refreshing to get cake orders where I can do as I please ;)

The pink cake, with a bit of a Spring theme:

Tried my hand at a basket weave

And the elegant purple cake:

Sparkles

And part of the order was 50 mini cupcakes in, of course, pink and purple:

Did I mention how much fun it is to decorate with edible glitter?

Happy Baking!

Lemon Loaf Cake

I'm writing this post as I lie down on my bed, covered in a big blanket, with a tissue box to my left and my cat cuddled up next to me on my right. I'm still recovering from a flu which doesn't seem like it's going away anytime soon. But with a little bit of Jack Johnson, a dam to my river of worries about my midterms (nerd alert) and some happy blogging vibes, a flu won't be the end of me.

I've been baking this cake quite a lot in the past 2 months, it has now become another family favorite. Frankly, this list keeps growing so I'm no longer keeping count. I must say that this sometimes works against my favor on busy days when I have no time nor energy to bake. But my mom pulls out the puppy-dog eyes and I'm sold; running to the kitchen to start mixing and baking.

Lemon zest, anyone?

This cake's very simple to make (as most of what I love to bake is) and is one of those cakes you can keep in an air-tight container all week long without it getting spoiled. I love having a slice of this for breakfast with some green tea: HEAVEN! Seriously, who has cereal in the morning when you have a beautiful cake waiting for you to indulge in?

A ray of sunshine

If you've got extra cake batter left then I suggest you have some fun with it by making some cupcakes. Top them off with ever-so-light cream cheese frosting and a touch of lemon zest.

Looks like a party, doesn't it?

Lemon Loaf Cake adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

For the cake:
2 sticks of butter (approx. 200g), softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups self-rising flour
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of lemon essence/flavoring

zest of 2 lemons

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F)
• Grease and lightly flour a large loaf pan; line the bottom with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.
• Add the sugar gradually and beat for 3 minutes until fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Combine the flours and add in four parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition. (Note: you can simply mix in the vanilla extract with the milk to make the alternation easier)
• Add the lemon essence/flavoring and the lemon zest and mix until well incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
• Bake for 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for ten minutes.
• Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
• Slice a nice big piece. Enjoy!

For the cream cheese frosting, I've used my favorite: Sweetapolita's Fluffy Cream Cheese Icing recipe. 

Happy Baking!